Jones Louise, Jacklin Kristen, O'Connell Megan E
Centre for Rural and Northern Health Research, Laurentian University, Sudbury, ON, Canada.
Medical Anthropology, Human Sciences Division, Northern Ontario School of Medicine, Sudbury, ON, Canada.
J Med Internet Res. 2017 Jul 20;19(7):e256. doi: 10.2196/jmir.7520.
Older Indigenous adults encounter multiple challenges as their age intersects with health inequities. Research suggests that a majority of older Indigenous adults prefer to age in place, and they will need culturally safe assistive technologies to do so.
The aim of this critical review was to examine literature concerning use, adaptation, and development of assistive technologies for health purposes by Indigenous peoples.
Working within Indigenous research methodologies and from a decolonizing approach, searches of peer-reviewed academic and gray literature dated to February 2016 were conducted using keywords related to assistive technology and Indigenous peoples. Sources were reviewed and coded thematically.
Of the 34 sources captured, only 2 concerned technology specifically for older Indigenous adults. Studies detailing technology with Indigenous populations of all ages originated primarily from Canada (n=12), Australia (n=10), and the United States (n=9) and were coded to four themes: meaningful user involvement and community-based processes in development, the digital divide, Indigenous innovation in technology, and health technology needs as holistic and interdependent.
A key finding is the necessity of meaningful user involvement in technology development, especially in communities struggling with the digital divide. In spite of, or perhaps because of this divide, Indigenous communities are enthusiastically adapting mobile technologies to suit their needs in creative, culturally specific ways. This enthusiasm and creativity, coupled with the extensive experience many Indigenous communities have with telehealth technologies, presents opportunity for meaningful, culturally safe development processes.
随着年龄增长与健康不平等问题相互交织，年长的原住民成年人面临多重挑战。研究表明，大多数年长的原住民成年人希望在原地养老，为此他们将需要符合文化安全的辅助技术。
本批判性综述的目的是审视有关原住民为健康目的使用、改造和开发辅助技术的文献。
采用原住民研究方法并从去殖民化方法出发，使用与辅助技术和原住民相关的关键词，检索截至2016年2月的同行评审学术文献和灰色文献。对资料进行审查并按主题编码。
在收集到的34份资料中，只有2份涉及专门针对年长原住民成年人的技术。详细介绍所有年龄段原住民群体技术的研究主要来自加拿大（n = 12）、澳大利亚（n = 10）和美国（n = 9），并被编码为四个主题：开发过程中有意义的用户参与和基于社区的流程、数字鸿沟、技术方面的原住民创新以及作为整体和相互依存的健康技术需求。
一个关键发现是，有意义的用户参与技术开发很有必要，尤其是在与数字鸿沟作斗争的社区。尽管存在这种鸿沟，或者也许正是因为这种鸿沟，原住民社区正以创造性的、符合文化特点的方式积极改造移动技术以满足自身需求。这种热情和创造力，再加上许多原住民社区在远程医疗技术方面的丰富经验，为开展有意义的、符合文化安全的开发过程提供了机会。
